Disaster or Adventure?!

We chose ADVENTURE!  What an amazing day!
We awoke yesterday morning at 3a to embark on our first major family road trip in 4.5 years (a story all of it's own), and we've never done it with all 4 kids for more than 3 hours.  So, we loaded the last of our stuff and all of the kiddos at 3:45am.  They were all so excited for our trip to the beach, and off we went.  With joy brimming in our little van, I was determined not to be the usual road-trip-hater that I have been since child-hood.  I even took the first driving shift.  I was excited about our first real road trip, our destination, the midwifery skills lab, the conference, meeting far away peers and fellow-students, seeing old friends, and the fun ahead with the family.

Caleb was just settling into rest as I turned onto I-70 off of C-470 and there is was in flashing lights, "I-70 CLOSED at Glenwood Canyon, due to a rock-slide."  Of course, here we go.  "I told you to check the roads", I said as I slugged Caleb in the arm.  Don't worry, I lightened up and we began to discuss our options.  We came to the quick realization that our plans had just changed pretty drastically and that this would result in a longer day of travel, with less progress toward our destination, and resulting drama from all parties involved.  But, we made the best of it and decided to head toward Steamboat instead of Leadville since it was the more adventurous, "road less traveled".  We made numerous stops for potty breaks, McDonalds playplace while Caleb did a little work for Freespeech, potty breaks, map-check, snacks, potty breaks, etc.  The kids did an AMAZING job and were mostly happy for the entire day.  At one point in our trip, Caleb went in to the gas station to ask the locals about our new route.  He was in there for what seemed like forever.  He finally came out and said, "Well, are you ready for more adventure?"  The first time I saw this look on my husband was on our honeymoon when we decided to take a spontaneous trip up to Norway from Finland to see the arctic ocean.  It was full of adventure, but not lacking in frustration, and many lessons learned (like, if you relax and laugh at the things that happen when you're spontaneous, it's a lot more fun and makes for a great story for years to come).

So, we forged on, with happy hearts.  Around 9a, we stopped in Craig (Caleb's birth town) to play/work at the McDonalds.  I got the kids dressed in the bathroom and let them play for about 45 minutes.  I was about at my fast food/germy play-place limit when Caleb came in with the news.  "Did you figure out a hotel option for tonight?", I asked.  "No, but guess what?!"  and he shared that our new route would allow us to visit Provo with just an additional 30 minutes added to our trip.  Well, who can resist that!?  So, we jumped back in the car and headed back down the road.  We ended up spending about 12 hours traveling yesterday and today will probably be about the same.  But, we were able to priceline a fabulous Residence Inn room with room for all of us, and complimentary dinner in addition to breakfast for the low price of $60! 
Thank you Lord for diverting our original plan.  We've had an amazing, blessed time and today, we get to start our day by showing the girls the little place they were born in and share their story with them.